Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn (Ravel)

Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn is a minuet for solo piano written by Maurice Ravel in 1909 to mark the centenary of Joseph Haydn's death.

[1] The piece is only 54 bars long and lasts for about a minute and a half.

In the score, the use of this motif is marked using their letters including several inverted and retrograde versions.

[3] In total, six composers were commissioned: Maurice Ravel, ('Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn'), Claude Debussy ('Hommage à Haydn'), Vincent d'Indy, Paul Dukas ('Prélude Élégiaque'), Reynaldo Hahn ('Theme Varié sur le nom de Haydn'), and Charles-Marie Widor ('Fugue sur le nom d'Haydn').

Each composer was given the same task: to write a piece based on the musical equivalent of Haydn's name.